Report: 7 Big East schools ponder move to A-10

Seven members of the Big East Conference reportedly are considering bolting for the Atlantic-10 Conference.

The A-10, which has currently has 14 members, has offered a new home for the seven Big East Catholic schools which mainly belong to the Big East for basketball competition, ESPN.com reported Tuesday.

The seven schools -- Marquette, DePaul, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's and Villanova -- met Sunday met in New York with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco about their possibilities, including leaving the league.

The schools would be a fit for the A-10, which has a majority of like-minded schools.

Currently, the A-10 has 16 schools, but Temple is leaving for the Big East and UNC-Charlotte is heading to Conference USA. Adding seven schools from the Big East would give the A-10 21 members.

The A-10 reportedly has told the seven schools it can provide a better television deal than the Big East. The possibility of voting to dissolve the Big East also has arisen, but ESPN reported the seven Catholic schools do not have the necessary votes to accomplish that.

The Big East has seen significant changes in a little more than a year driven mainly by football. West Virginia, TCU, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame have announced plans to depart, and will be replaced by Temple, Boise State, San Diego State, Memphis, UCF, Houston, SMU, Tulane, East Carolina and Navy over the next three years.